The Friend Project - Charlene

My Friend Project continues, and this time I want to highlight & celebrate my friend, Charlene. She is the most giving person I know, and her heart is gold. She exemplifies the qualities of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:10-31, and when she tells me she is praying for me, I KNOW she is praying for me.

I chose to do a casual portrait of us together because we've been casual friends for most of the time we've known each other. We met through our sons, Seth and Noah, when they were in high school together. Our families would get together once in a while, share a meal, play games, talk, and laugh--always lots of laughter. We enjoyed each other's company and continued our casual friendship after our sons graduated and moved in different directions. We mostly moved in our different orbits, but something would bring us together every once in a while, and we'd always wonder why we didn't get together more often since our families had so much fun together.

Sometime in the fall of 2022, Charlene invited Jamie & me to attend Sunday School with her, and we did. Sometime later, out of the blue, she invited me to attend a very small women's bible study group with her on Wednesday nights. I felt compelled to say yes, and I think it surprised her how quickly I did. (New people=out of my comfort zone.) You'll hear more about that in a future post.

I talked with her before I was diagnosed, sharing my suspicions, and our friendship since then has solidified & strengthened, I feel very blessed to have her in my life because at every turn on this new road, she is there. She drove to Mexico Beach in October and spent three days with me. She & her hubby, Steve, offered to sit with Jamie while I'm in surgery. She's organizing a "meal train" for Jamie & me to provide meals for us after my surgery.

I know God put Charlene in my life all those years ago, and I know He kept bringing us around to each other through the years. She inspires me to pray, to seek & trust God, and to do all the good in the world that I can. Her attitude is always positive, and she gives 110% to everything she does. She is a treasure.

My beautiful friend...

And just for fun, I'm including photos of our sons, Seth & Noah taken during their Senior year of high school....